10.15.2. How to Create Questions

To create questions for a quiz, you must first add them to the question bank.
There are two ways to add questions: you can either select a question from the question bank or create a new one.

Question Bank Management

You can organize the questions in the question bank into categories (folders) based on their purpose or type.
For example, organizing the questions into a hierarchical structure like the one below makes it easier to manage questions and generate random selections (e.g., randomly selecting three questions from the first set).

<Specific Examples of Categorization (for multi-session courses)>

• Course Default (Parent Category)
  • 01_Session 1: Orientation (10 questions)
  • 02_Session 2: Basic Theory (20 Questions)
  • 03_For Midterm Exams
    • Basic Questions (30 Questions)
    • Applied Problems (10 questions)
  • Past Exam Questions Archive (from last year)

How to Set Up the Question Bank

1. On the course page, select "Question bank" from the "More" menu.

2. The questions in the question bank are displayed in a list. To view other question banks, select "Categories" in the upper-left corner of the screen.

3. A list of available question banks will appear, and you can edit each one.

4. To create a category in the question bank, click "Add Category" in the upper-left corner and enter the category information.　　

Using categories makes it easier to manage questions by type. We also recommend creating categories to manage questions when generating random questions.

Exporting and Importing Questions from the Question Bank

You can use the export and import features to save questions from one question bank to another. For more details on importing and exporting questions, please visit the official website (Importing Questions, Exporting Questions).

Export the problem

1. On the Question Bank page, select "Export" from the menu in the upper-left corner.

2. Select the file format and the category of the question bank you want to export, then click "Export questions to file" Unless otherwise specified, select "Moodle XML format" for the file format.

File Format Details

The file format in question	Content
Aiken Format	This is the format for importing multiple-choice questions.
GIFT Format	This is the format used when creating complex problem sets in a text editor.
Moodle XML Format	This is the standard question data format in Moodle. It is suitable for backups and for importing questions from other Moodle installations.
XHTML format	This is the format used when migrating problematic data to another app.

3. The page will refresh, and the question data from the exported question bank will be downloaded automatically.

Import the problem

1. On the Question Bank page, select "Import" from the menu in the upper-left corner.

2. Under "File format" select the format of the problem file you want to import, select the file, and then click "Import" at the bottom of the page.

3. The issues to be imported will be displayed. After reviewing them, click "Continue"

4. You will be redirected to the Question Bank page. The imported questions are saved there.

How to create a new question

1. Click "Add Problem."

2. Proceed to the following screen, click "Add" in the lower-right corner, and select "a new question."

3. Click "a new question" to display a list of question types, then select the type you want to use to create your question.

●Moodle offers the following question types:

Types of Problems	Content
Multiple choice	This is a question where you select an answer from a list of options. You can set it up for multiple-choice or single-choice responses.
True/False	Select either "True" or "False" for each question.
Matching	This is a question where you must select the correct answer from multiple choices to form the correct combination.
Short answer	This is a question that requires you to write down words or phrases as your answer.
Calculated simple	This is a problem where you set up a formula and display random numbers.
Drag and drop onto image	This is a question where you answer by dragging and dropping an image into the diagram.
Drag and drop into text	This is a type of question where you create fill-in-the-blank spaces in the text and answer by dragging and dropping sentences into those spaces.
Drag and drop markers	This is a question where you answer by dragging and dropping items to their correct locations in the diagram.
Select Missing Words	This is a question where you select the missing word from the drop-down menu to complete the sentence.
Random short answer matching	We will randomly combine description questions from a specific category to create a single question.
Calculated	These questions follow the same format as simple math problems. You can configure the random numbers (wildcards) that appear.
Embedded answers(Cloze)	This is a question where you fill in the blanks in the passage using various formats.
Ordering	This is a question where you have to rearrange the order of the sentences or words to form the correct answer.
Calculated multichoice	A numerical version of a multiple-choice question. It is possible to include mathematical expressions as answer choices.
Essay	This is an essay-type question. Since there is no single correct answer, the teacher must grade it.
Description	Use this when adding explanatory text separate from the question text. It is used to include the test introduction and similar information.

For instructions on how to create questions for each type, see 10.15.3. Types of Quiz Questions.

*Points to note when creating a new question
On the question creation screen, select the category in which to save the question from "Course Default" or "Module Default." You can reuse the questions you create in different quiz modules by retrieving them from the "Question bank"
If you save a question to "Module Defaults," it can only be used within that specific module; therefore, we recommend saving questions to "Course Defaults" if you plan to reuse them from the question bank.

How to add questions from the question bank

1. Click "Add Problem."

2. Proceed to the following screen, click "Add" in the lower-right corner, and select "from question bank"

3. Select a category from the question bank. Select questions that have been saved in the question bank and add them to the quiz.

4. Set the point value for each question, then click Save.

Notes on Using Questions from the Question Bank
Questions in the question bank have a status called "Version"　　 The version is updated when you edit a question. If you edit a question included in a quiz, the version of that question in the question bank is also updated.
You can select and set the version of the question from the question bank for each quiz.
By default, the setting is "Always latest" but if you want to use a question from before the update, please select the version for each question after adding it to the quiz.

Example of editing a question added from the question bank　　

Pattern	Conditions	Behavior
If you edit a question added to a quiz	Specify the version	Questions added to quizzes will not be updated, but questions in the question bank will be updated.
If you edit a question added to a quiz	Set the version to "Always up to date"	Both the questions added to the quizzes and the questions in the question bank will be updated.
If you edit a question in the question bank	Specify the version	Questions added to quizzes will not be updated, but questions in the question bank will be updated.
If you edit a question in the question bank	Set the version to "Always up to date"	Both the questions added to the quizzes and the questions in the question bank will be updated.

Example of deleting questions from the question bank and quizzes

Pattern	Conditions	Behavior
If you delete a quiz question	-	Questions in the question bank will not be deleted, but questions will be removed from quizzes.
If you delete a question from the question bank	Used in quizzes	Questions in the question bank are not deleted; instead, they are set to "Hidden" status. You can view them by setting "Show hidden questions" to "Yes" in the question bank search criteria.
If you delete a question from the question bank	Not used in the quiz	The questions in the question bank will be deleted.

Questions are selected at random from the question bank and presented to the test-taker.

You can generate questions randomly from the question bank, and each student will receive questions with different content and in a different order. You can specify the number of questions to be generated from any category within the question bank. To use the random question feature, you must first create a category within the question bank specifically for generating random questions.

1. On the screen for adding quiz questions, select "random questions"

2. Select a category from the question bank. Choose how many questions you want to generate randomly from that category, then click "Add Random Questions."

3. Questions with random order and content will be generated. Set the score, then click "Save"

For items not listed here, please refer to the official Moodle website or click the "?" icon in the bottom-right corner of each screen to access "Documentation for this page."